Funds are requested for partial support of the first Gordon Research Conference on Biological Structure and Gene Expression which will be held at Plymouth State College August 14-18, 1989. The central theme of this meeting will be biological structure as it is determined by, and in turn regulates expression of specific genes that are responsible for cell and tissue organization and function. A central theme of the conference will be to integrate concepts and experimental approaches to examining the relationships between extracellular matrix, transmembrane connectors, the cytoskeleton and the nuclear matrix as related to gene transcription, processing of RNA transcripts and synthesis of cell type specific proteins. To promote a multifaceted consideration of the problem, participants will be drawn from the fields of molecular genetics, cytostructure, cell surface membranes, cell-cell interactions and extracellular matrix. The common interest of the participants will be mechanisms which are functionally related to tissue architecture through control of cellular constituents. To emphasize the broad biological relevance of the problem a number of systems including breast, kidney, bone and skin will be considered; and, though tissue organization is viewed as a key element in obtaining a full understanding of the relationship between cell structures and gene expression, various in vitro systems which reflect tissue properties will be evaluated. Within this context biochemical, cellular as well as molecular approaches will be considered. To date, no conference has brought together the fields which underlie an integrated approach to the relationship between cellular structure and gene expression as related to tissue organization and this is the primary objective of the conference for which funding is requested. As such, this first Gordon Research Conference on Cellular Structure and Gene Expression should be a milestone in the development of a maturing new field.